Fuji GFX 50R is $3500

$4500 is the closest digital MF has ever gotten for me. OTOH, I paid KEH $350 for a film Pentax 645 and another 300 for a 75 mm lens around 2004. (I couldn’t bear to sell it so ultimately I donated it to our photography program.) I bet the 50 R is sweet for stills. Does anyone know of a street photog that uses it?
 
$4500 is the closest digital MF has ever gotten for me. OTOH, I paid KEH $350 for a film Pentax 645 and another 300 for a 75 mm lens around 2004. (I couldn’t bear to sell it so ultimately I donated it to our photography program.) I bet the 50 R is sweet for stills. Does anyone know of a street photog that uses it?

If I didn't have a wife, kid, mortgage and a desire to continue walking straight - you would know one.....hehehehehe.
 
The GFX50R is great camera for landscapes and portraits. But the Sony A7rIV - with 61mp and a far-superior autofocus system - goes for $500 less right now. Plus if you already have some good FE mount glass, you don't have to add another $1000 to the purchase price.

Of course, there is a difference between full-frame and medium format. I understand that. But I'll bet the results in this case are not dramatic.
 
The GFX50R is great camera for landscapes and portraits. But the Sony A7rIV - with 61mp and a far-superior autofocus system - goes for $500 less right now. Plus if you already have some good FE mount glass, you don't have to add another $1000 to the purchase price.

Of course, there is a difference between full-frame and medium format. I understand that. But I'll bet the results in this case are not dramatic.
Adorama has a used body for $2999. :D Sony AF is definitely faster, especially AF-C and tracking. The GFX50R is probably not the first choice for sports shooting. OTOH, I can’t decide how this would work as a street body. Vivian Maier used MF with MF.
Edit: Used 63 mm for $879. MF kit under 3K USD. Why am I trying to sell this system?
 
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I noticed that our major Finnish camera retailer also lists the GFX 50 R for 3500 € which is roughly equivalent to the 3500 $ US because ours include a hefty VAT already.

I can already fantasize how prettily the four-element Nikkor-Q 135mm would render against the MF sensor...
 
Of course, there is a difference between full-frame and medium format. I understand that. But I'll bet the results in this case are not dramatic.

The difference is even less dramatic when you consider that the medium format sensor in the GFX is not exactly full medium format in the traditional sense (as found in the Hasselblad H6D). It's approximately between full frame and full medium format.
 
The difference is even less dramatic when you consider that the medium format sensor in the GFX is not exactly full medium format in the traditional sense (as found in the Hasselblad H6D). It's approximately between full frame and full medium format.
It's true (and is the same with those Hasselblad X1Ds I beleive) and should be borne in mind by anyone intending to shell out on a completely new system. I wonder if it's a similar scenario to a F1.4 v F1.2 lens in that there's no apparent tangible difference in image output.
 
The difference is even less dramatic when you consider that the medium format sensor in the GFX is not exactly full medium format in the traditional sense (as found in the Hasselblad H6D). It's approximately between full frame and full medium format.

I might also add that I feel weird about the broad scope within which 'medium format' is defined. I know there's been different varieties of medium format, including the standard 6x6, or 6x7, 6x9, etc. But they're all thereabouts in terms of size. GFX's sensor (vs traditional medium format) seems more equivalent to the difference between full frame vs APS-C.
 
I wonder if it's a similar scenario to a F1.4 v F1.2 lens

It is still technically and quite accurately described as f/1.2 and f/1.4 respectively though. I would expect that to be reflected similarly when referring to sensor/film sizes. We have a small window of what we mean when we say 'APS-C' or 'APS-H'. We have a well defined understanding of what 'full frame' is. Same with m43.

But when it comes to medium format, it all goes out the window.
 
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This is an interesting rumor:
So, what would an entry level GFX body look like if the wanted to make a sub $2500 body? Or sub $2000? I’m just not sure how cheap they could get it. We’d still have to buy the lenses, after all.
 
As you said lenses are the issue... Apart from the price, only small lens is 50mm 3.5... If you adapt dslr / m lenses, you need to crop except maybe a few lenses that might work... If you do portraits only, maybe corners doesn't matter... I tried the apsc lenses on FF with Sony eg 1.3x works etc but still not good for landscapes, etc... Here is how Leica M 50mm 1.4 asph performs on it, lots of vignetting and corner issues:
Fuji GFX 50S • Vignetting of Leica M Lenses

This is an interesting rumor:
So, what would an entry level GFX body look like if the wanted to make a sub $2500 body? Or sub $2000? I’m just not sure how cheap they could get it. We’d still have to buy the lenses, after all.
 
This is an interesting rumor:
So, what would an entry level GFX body look like if the wanted to make a sub $2500 body? Or sub $2000? I’m just not sure how cheap they could get it. We’d still have to buy the lenses, after all.
Well, we know Fuji's idea of medium format tends to split the size difference between full frame and what many have traditionally considered medium format.

One way to save money would be to keep using contrast detection autofocus. But I don't think the market will tolerate that beyond a few hard-core landscape and portrait photographers.

Does medium format demand a high-quality viewfinder? I'm only asking. On the other hand, Fuji has a lot of parts on the shelf from the X-T4 that could be recycled into such a camera.

If the camera has a sub-$2500 price point, I could see buying the body and maybe one prime lens - especially if they were packaged together at a friendly price. Would any of us go for such a package if the GF 50mm f/3.5 pancake cost $500 - for a total outlay of no more than $3000? One could add lenses later - but you probably wouldn't need more than two more lenses.

Or would a 61mp Sony A7rIV at $2998 make more sense - especially if someone already owned a few decent FE-mount lenses?

It would really be something if Fuji could pull this off. But knowing how rumors can get confused... part of me wonders of this camera is actually the long-awaited X-H2. And the rumor itself doesn't indicate the camera would likely be as inexpensive as many of us would like.
 
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